Is Tintin a niche film?

CB Droege, 20th October 2011

Paramount Pictures has released a new trailer for The Adventures of Tintin, an upcoming fantasy adventure film.

This latest trailer seems edited to appeal specifically to fans of action films, and will hopefully bring in a larger audience.

The first trailer, released earlier this year, was more of a character demo, most likely to attract viewers who were already fans of the famous graphic novels. It didn’t get quite the expected response, however, likely because Tintin - a French-Belgian comic - has never really been a big hit in the US.

The film is the first in a planned series - as always, dependent on the success of the first one - and Paramount is pulling out all the stops for talent. Steven Moffat wrote the screenplay, Steven Spielberg is directing, and Peter Jackson is the producer. In addition, the cast of mo-cap actors is well-stocked with stars.

We’ve also got a new plot synopsis which highlights the specific Tintin books the film is based on:

Combining the stories of The Crab with the Golden Claws, The Secret of the Unicorn and Red Rackham’s Treasure, the film depicts Tintin’s (Jamie Bell) first encounter with Captain Haddock (Andy Serkis) and the discovery of a clue to the treasure of his ancestor Sir Francis Haddoque. They set out to find it with protection from a prison escapee who tried to get the treasure, as well as Detectives Thompson and Thomson (Simon Pegg and Nick Frost).

The Adventures of Tintin: The Secret of the Unicorn will hit theaters in 3D and IMAX December 23, 2011.